Partners Group

Partners Group built a $150B+ private markets empire by democratizing an asset class historically reserved for ultra-wealthy investors. Founded in 1996, the company created investment vehicles allowing pension funds, insurers, and wealth managers to access private equity, infrastructure, and real estate - markets previously requiring $25M+ minimum investments. This aggregation strategy works because private markets have massive information asymmetries: most institutional investors lack expertise to evaluate direct deals, so they pay Partners Group 1-2% management fees plus 10-20% performance fees to access pre-vetted opportunities. The company's 30%+ operating margins prove that in alternative investments, distribution and curation create more value than deal origination alone.